| Kigeli V Ndahindurwa | |
|---|---|
 Kigeli V shortly before his death, at theNational Liberal Club inLondon | |
| Mwami of Rwanda | |
| Reign | 28 July 1959 – 28 January 1961 |
| Predecessor | Mutara III Rudahigwa |
| Successor | Yuhi VI (in pretense) |
| Born | (1936-06-29)29 June 1936 Kamembe,Ruanda-Urundi |
| Died | 16 October 2016(2016-10-16) (aged 80) Washington D.C., U.S.[1] |
| Burial | 15 January 2017 Nyanza District, Rwanda[2] |
| Clan | Abanyiginya[3] |
| Father | Yuhi V Musinga |
| Mother | Mukashema Bernadette[4] |
| Religion | Catholicism |
Kigeli V Ndahindurwa (bornJean-Baptiste Ndahindurwa; 29 June 1936 – 16 October 2016) was the last ruling King (Mwami) ofRwanda, from 28 July 1959 until the end of the UN-mandate with Belgian administration and the declaration of an independent Republic of Rwanda 1 July 1962. On 25 September 1961, areferendum voted for the abolition of theRwandan monarchy following theRwandan Revolution.
After a brief period of moveabouts after leaving Rwanda, the titular King lived in exile during the final part of his life in the town ofOakton, Virginia, in the United States. In exile, he was known for heading the King Kigeli V Foundation, an organisation promoting humanitarian work for Rwandanrefugees. He was also notable for his activities in maintaining the dynastic, cultural heritage of his formerly reigning royal house, includingnoble titles,dynastic orders of chivalry and other distinctions.
After the king's death, a successor was said to be shortly revealed. In January 2017, it was announced thatYuhi VI would succeed him. Yuhi VI is the nephew of both the late King Kigeli V and the previous King Mutara III, as well as a grandson of King Yuhi V.
Kigeli was born Ndahindurwa on 29 June 1936 inKamembe,Rwanda, to Yuhi Musinga (the deposed KingYuhi V Musinga), and Queen Mukashema (born Mukashema Bernadette), the seventh of his eleven wives.[5] He was ethnicallyTutsi.[6] Kigeli had fourteen siblings, being one of the youngest of his father's many children.[7]
When Kigeli was 4 years old,[6][8] his father was exiled by theBelgian government toMoba, in theDemocratic Republic of Congo.[8][9] Following the death of his father, in 1944 he returned to Rwanda.[10] Kigeli was baptised in theCatholic Church in his teens,[11] taking the Christian name Jean-Baptiste,[12] and remained a devout Catholic throughout his life.[6]
He received his education at the Groupe Scolaire Astrida (nowGroupe Scolaire Officiel de Butare) in Rwanda,[5][13] and at the Nyangezi College in the modern-dayDemocratic Republic of the Congo.[5][14] After he finished school in 1956,[6] he worked in local government in Rwanda until 1959.[5]
After his half-brother, KingMutara III Rudahigwa, died under mysterious circumstances on 25 July 1959, it was announced on 28 July that Kigeli would succeed him as King Kigeli V Ndahindurwa.[6][15] "Kigeli" is sometimes transcribed as "Kigeri".[16][17] Though married, Kigeli's late half-brother had had no children; the abrupt, shocking nature of the death prompted widespread talk of some kind ofassassination having occurred.[7]
Kigeli's appointment was a surprise to the Belgian administration, who were not involved in his selection, and who described the event as acoup d'état,[6][18] a view shared by the newly politically empoweredHutu elite.[19] Kigeli himself also felt shocked and overwhelmed at the news of his ascension.[7][20] The tense atmosphere and presence of armed Rwandans at the funeral prevented the Belgians from objecting,[11][21] as well as preventing Hutu interference.[22] Despite this, Kigeli was initially favoured by all sides: Tutsi traditionalists, Hutu nationalists, and the Catholic clergy all felt optimistic on his appointment.[11] However, the manner of his appointment led to a loss of prestige for the Belgian authorities, and gave both Hutu and Tutsi revolutionaries the impression that violence might further their goals. The fact that the Tutsi establishment had engineered the rise to power also compromised Kigeli's ability to act in the traditional role as a neutral arbiter of differing factions.[21]
Kigeli duly followed regal tradition by disregarding past ethnic and ideological affiliations, embracing the role of the 'father of all Rwandan people'. However, political instability and tribal conflict grew despite efforts by the monarchy and others. Only a month after Kigeli's November 1959 ascension,Hutu versus Tutsi militancy increased to the point that hundreds died. Many Tutsi went into exile. Issues with the increasingly restive Hutu population were encouraged by the Belgian military, promoting widespread revolt. Kigeli later wrote, "I am not clinging to power... I will always accept the people’s verdict; what I cannot accept is that the Belgian Administration should influence or distort this verdict."[7]
In July 1960, Kigeli sought safe haven in thenewly independent nation ofCongo.[7] In 1961, Kigeli was inKinshasa to meetSecretary General of the United NationsDag Hammarskjöld whenDominique Mbonyumutwa, with the support of the Belgian government, leda coup d'état that took control of the Rwandan state.[7] The monarchy's rule was formally overthrown on 28 January 1961.[23] The coup resulted in the1961 referendum about the fate of the nation's royal system.[7]
The election results showed that, with about 95% turnout, around 80% of voters opposed the continuation of the monarchy. Kigeli criticized the affair as rigged; soon after re-entering Rwanda prior to the election, Belgian officials put him under house arrest.[7]
The government officially deported Kigeli to what is nowTanzania on 2 October 1961. He subsequently lived in multiple other locations, leaving the region ofTanganyika (living inDar es Salaam) for places such asKampala,Uganda, andNairobi,Kenya. He was granted political asylum in the United States in July 1992. He resided in the U.S. for the rest of his life.[7]
Grantedpolitical asylum by the United States, he settled nearWashington, D.C., where he claimedwelfare, and lived in subsidized housing.[6][24] He subsequently settled inOakton, Virginia inNorthern Virginia.[20]
He travelled internationally to speak on behalf of the Rwandan people and repeatedly called for peace and harmony between the different groups. Kigeli continued to remember the victims of thegenocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda and attempted to reconcile all political, ethnic, and religious parties in Rwanda to use the democratic process to solve any disputes. Kigeli was a friend of formerPresident of South AfricaNelson Mandela and thePrime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the CongoPatrice Lumumba.[citation needed]
In 1995, while in Southern California, Kigeli met author and historianCharles A. Coulombe, an American representative of theInternational Monarchist League, a London-based organization that attempts to reinstate deposed royalty in various parts of the world.[25]
In an August 2007BBC interview, Kigeli expressed an interest in returning to Rwanda if the Rwandan people were prepared to accept him as their constitutional monarch. He said that he had met PresidentPaul Kagame and that Kagame had told him that he and his family were free to return, but Kigeli said that in order to do so, he needed to know if the people still wanted him to be king. According to Kigeli, Kagame said that he would consult the government about the issue.[26]
He was the head of the King Kigeli V Foundation,[27] whose mission is to bring humanitarian initiatives on behalf of Rwandan refugees.[citation needed]
Kigeli died of a heart ailment at age 81 on the morning of 16 October 2016 in a hospital inWashington, D.C.[28] His private secretary, Guye Pennington, said that an heir had been chosen and would be announced shortly.[1] Kigeli never married, in obedience to a rule banning marriage for kings while they were out of the country.[1]
Although Kigeli never married, on 9 January 2017, the Royal House announced that his nephew, PrinceEmmanuel Bushayija (to reign asYuhi VI of Rwanda), would succeed him as pretender to the Rwandan throne.[29] He is the son of the half-brother of Kigeli, Prince William Bushayija.
After Kigeli's death, it was revealed he had at least one daughter, Jacqueline Rwivanga, married toAndrew Rugasira 1998-2015 and a mother of five.[30]
| Ancestors of Kigeli V Ndahindurwa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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As titular King in exile, as part of maintaining his royal family's cultural heritage, Kigeli V issuedchivalric orders and titles ofnobility with himself asfount of honour, in accordance with traditional customs.
Research in 2016 found that noble Rwandan titles were given to non-Rwandans by King Mutara III, the prior King of Rwanda. This was consistent with King Kigeli V's statements that his elder brother, when he reigned as King, granted orders and noble titles to non-Rwandans. An independent article confirming this was printed in an article titled "African King Gets Papal Honor from Vatican" inThe Guardian, a publication of theDiocese of Little Rock,Arkansas, United States, 4 July 1947.[31]
The titles are recognised byBurke's Peerage[32]
Foreign orders and decorations received by the King:[34]
Knight Grand Cross of theOrder of Saints Maurice and Lazarus (House of Savoy)
Knight Grand Cross of theOrder of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa (House of Braganza)_-_ribbon_bar.gif)
Knight Grand Cross of theOrder of Saint Michael of the Wing (House of Braganza)_ribbon.gif)
Knight Grand Cross of theOrder of the Queen of Sheba (Solomonic dynasty)
Knight Grand Cross of theOrder of the Star of Ethiopia (Ethiopian Empire)
Knight (single rank order) of theImperial Order of Solomon (Ethiopian Empire)
Knight Grand Collar of theRoyal Order of Ismail (Royal House of Egypt)
Knight Grand Collar of theOrder of the Eagle of Georgia (Royal House of Georgia)[35]
Knight Grand Collar of the Order of Merit of the Portuguese Royal House (House of Braganza)[36]
Knight Grand Cordon of theRoyal and Hashemite Order of the Pearl (Royal House of Sulu)[37]{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link){{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)Ex-Pepsi Cola employee becomes Rwandan king. Posted at 10:22UTC. A 56-year-old man who lives in theUK and once worked for a soft drinks company in Uganda has been named Rwanda's king-in-exile. Prince Emmanuel Bushayija succeeds his grandfather (recte, uncle), King Kigeli V, who died in the US[sic] in October aged 80. In a statement, the Royal House said the new monarch grew up in exile in Uganda, and later worked for Pepsi Cola in the capital, Kampala. 'He then went on to work in the tourism industry in Kenya, before returning to Rwanda between 1994 and 2000. Since then, His Majesty has lived in the United Kingdom, where he is married with two children,' it added.
Kigeli V Ndahindurwa House of Ndahindurwa Born: 29 June 1936 Died: 16 October 2016 | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | King of Rwanda 25 July 1959 – 28 January 1961 | Vacant Monarchy abolished |
| Titles in pretence | ||
| Loss of title | — TITULAR — King of Rwanda 28 January 1961 – 16 October 2016 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
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